Third quake frighten the Algerians

A new quake hit Algeria Yesterday morning just 14 hours from a previous one, part of the destructive quake the country was exposed to last week, at a time when psychologists warned against strong consequences of the series of quakes on the citizens of the capital Algiers and Bumerdas provinces, where worst human and material casualties occurred.

A new calculation announced by the Algerian authorities yesterday indicated the killing of 2251 persons and wounding of 10243 following the two aftershocks which hit the two said provinces since Tuesday evening until Wednesday morning.

Eye witnessed said that almost 9 persons were buried under the ruins of the buildings which collapsed as a result of Tuesday's evening quake and two persons were rescued yesterday from under the ruins of a building tower of 19 floors in Reghaya, according to French rescue men, while others remained missing.

Citizens were obliged after all these retarded shocks which followed the fatal quake last Wednesday to stay outside their houses even if their houses were safe. The extend of horror pushed many citizens to throw themselves from balconies when the quake took place. The number of those spending the night outside their houses is estimated at 100,000 and those who lost their houses at 15,000.

Meantime, several rescue teams which arrived in Algeria after the quake left the country so as the rescue operations to be limited to the Algerian army. The Algerian government announced yesterday it will allocate some 100 billion Algerian dinars ( USD 1.3 billion) to build 22,000 houses and 160 schools, 6 hospitals in 52 areas damaged by the earthquake.